Jordan
You have to be a cat person to understand this story about Jordan, a feral cat that came into our lives during the winter of 2008-09. At the time we had Buster, a large male indoor cat that thought he was a person too. He would run to answer the door, attend Boy Scout meetings in our basement and generally had the run of the house. He also would get enraged if another cat came into view outside, making a fuss and hissing until it was out of sight. That winter Busters health was failing simply from old age, and he still tried to maintain his watch over the yard while looking out the windows.
This smaller grey cat would come into our yard trying to catch a bird at the feeder, even trying to catch squirrels that were as big. Buster would be upset so I would go chase the cat away. Buster passed on, and he is buried outside in a nice spot. The grey cat still came, and my wife said you better feed that cat because it is starving. So I started leaving food out and would find the food gone the next day. In time “grey” would come around during the day and see me outside but it took some time for “grey” to come close to me since I had been chasing him away.
Being retired I had plenty of time and would sit on a bench in the garden to feed Gordon Whitefoot, as “grey” was now named based on his appearance. In time Gordon would sit with me for hours outside and started meeting me in the morning at our back door, and staying in our yard most of the time.
One day I noticed Gordon getting a bit heavy, and it dawned on me that he was a she, so her name was changed to Jordan Whitefoot! She started coming into our house in the mornings to eat and then she would back out the door. A few weeks went by and Jordan gave birth to two kittens, Oreo that looks nothing like her and JJ who is a mirror image. A trip to the vet with them and they were soon indoor only cats and they never wanted to get out. Jordan kept them in check the entire time she was with us.
As a first responder to 9/11 and the crash of TWA Flight 800 I have moments of depression. Jordan always seemed to know and would come to me just to sit on my lap, or shoulder like a parrot. I have a pacemaker in my chest and she would come and rub her head on it. She was always by my side, and slept next to me at night. Losing her was devastating to me but that’s life. Jordan is buried outside next to Buster near the trees she loved to hide in. JJ has taken up the slack, she likes to sleep on my chest at night, and she and Oreo like to hop on when I sit in the recliner.
Beautiful